Standarte is a 90's band with a 70's sound reminiscent of Atomic Rooster. They are an Italian trio featuring the strong keyboards of Michele Profeti, solid percussion and vocals from Daniele Caputo and scorching bass guitar (and additional keys) by Stefano Gabbani. They produce a 70's retro sound complete with Hammond organ, harpsichord, piano, 2 Mellotrons, 2 Moogs and vocals sounding like The Doors (or actually more like Atomic Rooster from 'In Hearing of...'). Both albums are hard driving but with a smooth structured feel and the concepts are very dark and surreal, but yet the music is surprisingly uplifting. The first self-titled album (1994) is dedicated to the late Vincent Crane, keyboardist from Atomic Rooster. Both have some spoken words (English w/British accent) interspersed with some excellent vocals that set the tone of gothic horror. The Hammond organ dominates almost every track, followed by hard-edged vocals, scorching bass and tight percussion. There is good change of pace and plenty of variety to keep you on your toes. Maybe one thing that is intriguing about this group is the stark contrast between dark and light, old and new, etc. A third album called 'Stimmung' is due out in September.

One look at the cover and it should be clear that producers Simon Napier Bell and Ray Singer (who also penned about six of the tracks here) were trying to capitalize on the look and feel of Jesus Christ Superstar with this concept album that is laid out like a Catholic mass. The only musicians credited are Tony Newman (g), Max Simms (b), and Mike Newman (d); there’s also vocalists (an entire choir on a couple tracks), piano, organ, violins, cellos and much more – which naturally leads one to believe this is more an album by the two producers, than that of the “band”, although the Newman brothers are credited with writing the remaining five songs. So what’s it all about? Imagine an eclectic mix of sixties styled rock and pop songs (early Who or pre-psychedelic Beatles might be a fair comparison) separated by short dissonant string quartet interludes, short spoken introductions, with some classical rips (the “Toccata” with the choir singing the names of the sins over and over is quite ridiculous, as is the silly doo-wop meets Elvis “Dismissal”, but the bombastic “Devil’s Hymn” for choir and band is quite cool, with its jazzy center section). The meat of the album is in the songs though, all of which sound a little dated (even by 1969 standards) but are still quite good. From the poppy “Envy: I’m Talking as a Friend” and “Pride”, to the out-and-out rockers “Sloth: Open Up Your Eyes” and “Gluttony: Something is Threatening Your Family”, the song-craftsmanship and arrangements throughout are at a very high level. Probably not for everyone, but those into sixties styled eclecticism might do well to check it out. - Peter Thelen

Excellent debut album (the first of four by this South African Group) and a real rarity from 1969. A great album with a Pretty Things meets The Beatles vibe; psych blended with R 'n' B and garage punk tunes. Excellent songs with lovely vocals strong harmonies and super distorted guitar work.

The Psychedelic-Music.com Website describes McCully Workshop's first album like this: "Of all the albums we've heard from South Africa this one is topscore. What a beautiful masterpiece. Pepper-influenced Underground music with great songs, lovely vocals, strong harmonies, great distorted guitarwork."

Since 1965, the McCullagh brothers, Tully (born Terence on 31st May 1953) and Mike (born Michael on 7th April 1947), have become an integral part of the South African pop and rock scene.

"My brother [Mike] who plays drums and myself would play around and record ourselves in the lounge, I was about nine at the time. We recorded a track called 'Swinging Time' with some other friends when I was thirteen and sent it to a record company. The track didn't get anywhere but it was quite interesting. We grew a bit more and when I was sixteen (and Mike 22) we started a band called McCully Workshop and a whole string of other bands and I started a garage studio." – Tully McCully

McCully Workshop have had many line-up changes over the years, but the brothers have always surrounded themselves with superb musicians.

In 1965 they started as a folk-rock trio with Richard Hyam and called themselves the Blue Three. Richard had been in a folk duo, Tiny Folk, with his sister Melanie.

After a few personnel- and name-changes, like The Blue Beats and Larfing Stocke, the line-up settled down (for a while) in 1969 and they called themselves the McCully Workshop because they used to rehearse in Mrs McCullagh's garage.

Glenda Wassman later married Richard, and they formed the pop band Pendulum and had a big hit with 'Take My Heart' in 1976. Glenda then went on to major success with the all-girl group, Clout, who had a huge hit with 'Substitute' which went to #2 in the UK in 1978.

'McCully Workshop Inc' was produced by the great South African singer and producer Billy Forrest. The cover photo was taken by Sigurd Olivier and the cat's name was Sirikit.

'McCully Workshop Inc' was released in June 1970 and included the epic and powerful 'Why Can't It Rain' which went to #12 on the Springbok Radio charts in July 1970.

The follow-up to 'Inc' was an album titled 'Genesis' released in 1971. It was a concept album based on the book of Genesis from the Bible and included a number of long tracks with sub-sections, typical of other prog-rock albums of the time.

Crocodile Harris (real name Robin Graham, from Cape Town), recorded the brilliant haunting pop classic 'Miss Eva Goodnight' (Springbok #5, April 1974) which was written by Mike & Tully and featured the musicianship of all the then current McCully Workshop members.

'Ages' was released in 1975 and reflected musical styles from different ages of music and various influences could be heard: Uriah Heep, The Beatles, The Kinks and The Beach Boys, for example.

Their 4th album, 'Workshop Revisited', released in 1977 shot them to prominence when it introduced South African fans to hits like 'Buccaneer' and 'Chinese Junkman'. The album also saw Mike McCully winning the 1978 'Songwriter Of The Year' award.

They used to play in the late 70s at the Canterbury Inn in the Fairmead Hotel in Cape Town and wonderful renditions of classic rock songs could be heard on a Sunday night. Chicago's 'I'm A Man' (with a lo-o-ong percussion solo), Barry Ryan's 'Eloise', Grand Funk's (or Traffic's) 'Feeling Alright' and of course their own brilliant 1977 hit single 'Buccaneer' could all be heard; of course no dancing was allowed on a Sunday in those dark days, so the audience had to just sit and listen... and listen they did.

In 1998 the line-up from the late 70s reformed and re-recorded the old McCully Workshop classics and hits as well as 6 new songs and released the album 'Buccaneer'. 'Why Can't It Rain' also received a make-over losing none of its power and gaining an even stronger production.

In 2002 Tully is still running his successful Spaced-Out Sounds Studio in Cape Town and Mike regularly packs out concert halls with his nostalgic revue shows 'Sixty Something' and 'Music Of The Millennium'.

McCully Workshop is a band that deserves to be listened to, over and over again.

The Melting Ashes were formed in 1986 and did a limited number of gigsenlivened by slide shows and audience participation before splitting up in the spring of 1988.Their only vinyl appearance had been on a rather low-fi sampler called "12 Raw Greek Groups".They had recorded a few demos in the last months of their existence,and Wipe Out decided to do a posthumous album in order to please the band's hard-core fans."Green Fuzz 1987" was released in early 1991 and is well worth getting,even if it represents the hard side of the group rather than the psychedelic notes their music was shot through with.

The group was formed in 1986 and split up in 1988. Some years later their manager (Theodore Kritharis, owner of label)reworked the recorded demos of 1987 along with some x-members of the band and released this "diamond".

A psychedelic garage record. One of the most important bands in their kind.It contains 2 fantastic cover versions (GREEN FUZZ & I'M ON MY WAY).

NB: (1) also released on Uni (55044) 1967. They probably released other 45s.

A bluesy outfit with some psychedelic influence. Charles Lamont also released a solo LP in 1969, A Legend In His Own Time (Uni 73076), which consists of melodic psyche/pop with orchestrations. All the songs were written by Lamont and it features a version of Love So Strong which can also be found on the Alexander's Timeless Bloozband For Sale album. Both albums were produced by Tony Cary, but Lamont's solo effort cannot be recommanded.

The second 45 was a cover of the Buddy Holly/Norman Petty classic.(Clark Faville / Stephane Rebeschini)

Therefore video clip that should all we remembered and have in our possession, that constitutes one from the leading psychedelic music pieces that were ever written!!Many of you, your possibly not it's considered something important, because your continuous searching in more underground musical paths, as myself, other will not never cease constitutes one from the amazing compositions of 60's and not only, taken from gorgeous psychedelic album ' THEIR SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST of ' all seasons, that so much has been wronged by the friends of music !!!Beautiful video clip in order to splendid this music piece, which recorded somewhere in the dues August, beginnings September of 1967.It is worldwide known that this song written and composed by Jagger & Richards but it is less known that the bigger part of its melody is inspired from my ultra beloved Brian Jones. In addition,the same happened in other music marvellous pieces of Rolling Stones, deliberate remains indoomed to oblivionconcerning the Jagger and Richards, that to him did not leave also a lot of margins, for obvious reasons!!

Some additional info for this specific and wonderful song:Jagger once said that the words to this song were written while he was in jail after the Redlands bust.Lyrics

Sun turnin' 'round with graceful motionWe're setting off with soft explosionBound for a star with fiery oceansIt's so very lonely, you're a hundred light years from home

Freezing red deserts turn to darkEnergy here in every partIt's so very lonely, you're six hundred light years from home

It's so very lonely, you're a thousand light years from homeIt's so very lonely, you're a thousand light years from home

Bell flight fourteen you now can landSee you on Aldebaran, safe on the green desert sandIt's so very lonely, you're two thousand light years from homeIt's so very lonely, you're two thousand light years from home

Brian Jones on Mellotron, with the rest of the band filling in on guitar, drums, bass, and maracas. One of the chord changes is missed on the Mellotron at 1:58 (Jones pauses for a second). There is quite a bit of improvised drumming at the end.

A psyche pop duet, nothing is known about them and their backing group.Their only album was produced by Ed Ver Schure and Ralph Murphy (who also wrote eight of the twelve tracks)and they were managed by William McEuen (who also managed Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Sunshine Company, Hourglass).The album is quite patchy and contains folk/pop (Hello Sleepy Sidewalks), rock (Love Machine, penned by Gordon and Griffin),and orchestrated pop (Here Comes Yesterday Again).One of the best track is The Dweller, with flute and guitars, composed by Marcellino and Larson.It is beginning to interest some collectors.(Stephane Rebeschini)

1. Black And White2. Under The Ladder3. People Going Nowhere4. Out Of Hand5. Dissolving6. A Side He'll Never Show

This six-song EP, Crippled Pilgrims' debut release, was a little too out of sync with the mid-'80s indie scene to attract much notice. Though the group was downbeat enough to fit into the early post-punk era, there was more of an influence from flowing, classic rock-influenced guitar work and melodies than most such bands had, and few of the attributes of classic punk. There's enough lyrically nebulous indie guitar rock on here to appeal to, say, the early R.E.M. fan, or followers of some of the more guitar-based indie rock bands that arose in the South in the mid-'80s. It's also easy to see why Crippled Pilgrims never scaled the heights of R.E.M. -- the songs aren't as fully developed, inhabiting a fuzzy netherland between tense hard-rocking folk-rock and the edge of '80s guitar-grounded new wave.

StoryAfter being kidnapped by the savage noise troubadours Death Camp 2000 (featuring the rhythmic styling of Jay Spiegel a.k.a. the Rummager and the not yet famous thrashings of sound impresario Don Fleming), Jay Moglia's path shifted from its idyllic moorings onto an uncertain carousel of melody and mayhem. The 21-year-old Moglia took a crash course in guitar to color his vivid wordscapes and began looking for bandmates. Meanwhile, Scott Wingo sat at home drinking and wallowing in self-pitying gloom. His housemate Charles Steck had recently enlisted as bassist for Fleming's phenomenal pop combo the Velvet Monkeys - a fact that made Wingo's inability to fulfill his adolescent fantasies of rock stardom all the more agonizing.

As Moglia's embryonic attempts at song emerged, he was lucky to have the Velvet Monkeys help in fleshing them out with background noise. He lived in the room directly adjacent to the Monkeys' rehearsal space and spent many days lurking in the corner hoping for an invitation to jam. In time, whether for the good of rock or just to get him out of their ascending orbit, the Monkeys suggested that Moglia get together with Wingo for a musical chemistry check.

Scott arrived at Jay's house fully expecting to meet a circa 1982 standard-issue punk/alternative type but was instead greeted by a clean-cut young man in a green golf sweater with a stutter on his tongue and a phantom in his eye. This was Jay Moglia.

It wasn't long before the two started blending ideas. Wingo had cut his teeth in the influential DC punk band Trenchmouth, but his musical leanings were as much Beatles as Ramones, and Moglia's meandering yet forceful compositions allowed plenty of space for the outcast guitarist to sharpen his knives. Prominent among these knives was a recently acquired affinity for modal psychedelic noodling. Despite a valiant Punk/British Invasion-hardened resistance to all things Dead, a recent chance encounter with a particular ergot-derived substance combined with a well-timed Aoxomoxoa turntable spin had opened Wingo's ears and fingers to a whole new palette of six-string possibilities. The wide-open nature of Jay's pieces seemed to provide an apt canvas for somehow combining the alcoholic glee of pure hard rock with the lysergically-damaged wanderings of the not-so-distant past. (Whether this was actually achieved is an entirely separate question.)

The duo's joy in their well-meshed "sound" overshadowed more earthly concerns like song structure and length. An early Pilgrims show could easily last an hour as they whipped through their six-song set. It took bassist Mitch Parker, previously with the legendary DC punk outfit Government Issue, to bring some focus and direction to the raw strands of tune. Parker's ability to slice through musical excess coupled with his local scenester par excellence credentials quickly landed the group a slot on Fountain of Youth's compilation LP Bouncing Babies, immediately leading to the recording of their EP Head Down Hand Out (also on Fountain of Youth).

Through all of this, one central question remained unanswered: Who was the Crippled Pilgrims' drummer? The Velvet Monkey's Rummager (who shortly afterward reached heartthrob status as drummer for DC boy band HE) handled some of the crucial early gigs and sessions (including the first Inner Ear demo which yielded the Bouncing Babies track). At other times it was hard-hitting Tommy Carr of the powerful quartet Black Market Baby stepping in at the last minute to rescue the Pilgrims on show night. Ultimately, Dan Joseph, who had been with the group only two weeks before recording Head Down Hand Out, would become the drummer of record. Joseph never became an "official" member of the band due to his commitment with the progressive horror rock ensemble 9353. Though generous with his time, Joseph was reluctant to be affiliated with the Pilgrims. Jay, Scott, and Mitch's "regular guy" personas were no match for the preening charisma 9353 brought to the stage. Plus, Crippled Pilgrims' reputation for flowing melody and the occasional extended guitar solo had burdened them with a comparatively uncool reputation amid the rigid conformity of the then thriving harDCore scene. At 17 years old, Dan Joseph could certainly be excused for downplaying such a potentially credibility-busting association.

The revolving-door drummer status meant gigs for the Pilgrims were infrequent. Shortly after the release of Head Down Hand Out, Moglia, stifled by inactivity and bolstered by the EP's positive reviews and healthy college chart rankings, set out for NYC hoping to expand the group's profile and ultimately relocate the band. Unfortunately, he neglected to tell Wingo and Parker about his ambitious plans and was surprised when they didn't join him in Manhattan. Instead of extending the ranks of New York's rock elite, Jay found himself dazedly wandering the city's avenues carrying a can of blue spray paint and a cardboard "Crippled Pilgrims" stencil. Scott and Mitch were left back in DC with the proverbial question marks hanging over their heads.

Moglia eventually recovered from his spray-painted daze and began laying down tracks for an atmospheric collection of electronic folk songs under the name Geezer Park. The music was actually pressed and was poised to become the first release on Bar/None Records when Jay inexplicably pulled the plug on the project. In the meantime, Head Down Hand Out gathered momentum, garnering notable amounts of airplay in obscure and far-away markets. This came as a surprise to the group as their local DC following was less than massive. In mid-1984, with a fair number of Pilgrims' tunes never given a proper recording and Fountain of Youth pressing for a follow-up to Head Down Hand Out, Jay, Scott, and Mitch tentatively decided to revive the group.

With Jay commuting from NY to DC for gigs and recording sessions, Mitch and Scott both unwilling to abandon their relatively comfortable DC existences, and the continuing "who is our drummer" plague, the future did not bode well for the band. However, the trio (along with the drummer of the moment) managed to squeeze out a few more shows--the final being a pairing with LA's Gun Club at DC's 9:30 Club on September 7, 1984.

Recording and mixing of tracks continued sporadically throughout the fall of 1984. When Under Water was released the following spring, it was met with strong reviews and college radio airplay, but Crippled Pilgrims as a performing and recording unit were history.

In the ensuing years, Jay, Scott, and Mitch continued to make music together in various combinations and permutations. Notable among these was the full-frontal, testosterone-drenched stance of CPU (Crippled Pilgrims Unlimited), who, disappointingly, never performed beyond a few private parties. More fortunate in outreach was the crystalline rock perfection of Rambling Shadows whose initial mid-90's stirrings saw Jay and Mitch mining the urban underbelly for inspirational fuel. For reasons that remain murky, Mitch, in early 1996, abruptly quit the project, never to be seen or heard from again. The aforementioned Charles Steck (Velvet Monkeys, High-Back Chairs, Lida Husik) and Scott Wingo stepped in to salvage and retool, adding their own unique marks to the sound. This time around, the drummer was official - the multitalented Davis White (Foundation, Lorelei, Alice Despard Group among many others). Though the quartet never attained the popularity of Crippled Pilgrims, it gigged regularly in the DC area and even managed to have a couple of tunes released on obscure compilation CDs (Welcome to the Big Ring and Bumper to Bumper Hits, Vol. 2), with many other excellent tracks still awaiting release. After a five year hiatus, in early 2004, the Rambling Shadows re-emerged from the depths fully primed for yet another round of amplified truth promulgation - walking hard and thinking wrong.

The music encoded on this CD is the towering pinnacle of 1980's alt-rock. That few realized it at the time of its original release matters not a whit. What matters is that you now listen and know the glorious truths awaiting within.

This is a relatively obscure artist from the US who recorded two albums in the late 1960s and then one more in the mid 1970s. The first and most known two are collected here on one reissued CD and were produced by Lee Hazlewood, the famous arranger and musician of the period. These two albums are introspective loner folk-based music with a whimsical acoustic song of guitar and gently yearning vocals complemented by understated strings and woodwinds. These songs have a distant, late night quality being simple and rather delicate in style. On the first album there is perhaps a doomed romantic aspect with the instruments providing a touch of chamber music to the songs. Fans of Melanie, early Simon and Garfunkal or UK musicians like Duncan Browne would probably enjoy the songs a lot. Lyrically the album is often hippie fey such as on 'Sunshine Solider' with it's fugal horn and electric organ. However at this distance this is perhaps charming rather than irritating. Songs such as 'A Friend Of Mine' are quietly moving and realised in a quite beautiful way.

If there is a genre of 'ambient folk chamber music' then this would be its prime exponent. Like Love or Tim Buckley there is also a quest to explore different arrangements and instruments with 'Open Up The Door' having a dulcimer sound trying to be like a harpsichord. 'Dreams and Images' introduces mysterious flute melodies. 'Pandora' has a dream like quality with electric piano, cello and an air of strangeness. 'Wintertime' is gorgeous seasonal folk with a simple, direct arrangement of guitar, plucked strings and violin.

On the second album the hippie whimsy seems to have turned more to protest with 'new day, revolution, new day, everybody is arming' lyrics from the off. The music is a little more folk-rock though still fairly light in touch but with more obvious electric guitar, drums and violin. Unfortunately the second album doesn't have the variety of the first and instead carries on the light folk-rock throughout with a protest element, however this isn't exactly MC5. 'Strange Song' stands out as more like the first album but with somewhat annoying religious lyrics that the do not do justice to the melody such as 'come recreation, save the nation'.

There is little wrong with these folk-rock backings but the voice is just to fey to carry them off, it needs the soaring roaring quality of a Tim Buckley or Sandy Denny and often the arrangements do not carry a strong melody. On 'Annie Moore' there is piercing fuzz guitar that seems to liven up the track considerably and add a missing component allowing the voice not to carry the melody and work much better. On 'I/Soldier/Time Love' we see the vocalist more obviously trying to copy Tim Buckley but without the same depth of personality. 'Eleanor' harks back to the first album and it's a poised ballad of wonderful quality though perhaps by now it is out of place on the more jazzy folk-rock second album.

I imagine these will be promoted as 'psych folk' or something similar and while there is perhaps a whiff of illegal substances this isn't psychedelia but folk based pop music sometimes of exquisite quality. It reminds often of early Tir Na Nog, Heron or Waterfall (reviewed in this site) and is worth picking up if you like the late 60s folk pop sound.

Cosmic Michael is a hippie who flipped after the “Wow, I have seen Woodstock” idea. -The world is a great place now, so let’s boogie woogie blues our lives away.- The simple, happy innocence sounds like it is being inspired out of almost nothing and made up on the spot (“I’m a child of Woodstock generation” & "That's because she's my girl.."). The way some instruments like harmonica are recorded much louder than the voice makes the music even better, and a funny, and a somewhat enjoyable, trippy-hippie-on-the-background experience. With all simplicity of inspiration, the first couple tracks of the recording in this way sounds pretty “real”, but when the guy keeps on playing covers he also shows something of his banality and a lack of enough ideas to maintain its loner simple originality throughout the whole album.

This was his second album.

Another description (by Ron Moore) :"NYC idiosyncratic piano guitar basement psych rock jamming realness. The followup is stoned acoustic folk psych and was done in Los Angeles. It's not as jawdropping as the debut but "Woodstock Nation" is hilarious."

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Laine and Alan - 1982 - On An Autumn DayFantastic UK female vocal folk. Mainly trad tunes but with such a sweet and beautiful feeling,the vocals on this are just superb, lovely instrumentation with Flutes / Autoharp / Harmonium etc, so fragile sounding yet her voice is just so perfect, backed by John Rose and Nick Dow,produced by Rick Saunders. I put a personal guarantee that you will love this LP!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

The Poppy Family was a late 1960s-early 70s Canadianpop musical group based in Vancouver, British Columbia. A product of the "Hippie generation," they brought a cleaner cut image(altough the use of sitar is present), capitalizing on the vocal talents and good looks of Susan Jacks. Managed and produced by her husband Terry Jacks (vocals/guitar), with Craig McCaw (guitar) and Satwan Singh (drums), the group recorded two albums, from which came their best known songs "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" and "That's Where I Went Wrong" (1969).The album Which Way You Goin' Billy? earned the group two 1970 Gold Leaf (Juno) Awards, one for best-produced middle-of-the-road album, and the other in the best-produced single category for the album's title track.The Poppy Family disbanded in 1973.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Caution!: This album is for Cavemen only! One creepy night with full moon in the hills above Melbourne, four lads joined together and locked into a dark cellar. Suddenly, while they were experiencing several liquors, chords and lines they transformed into hideous monsters: A wolfman, a mummy, a frankenstein and a vampire…! The day after, when the woke they couldn’t remember anything but they did find this master-monster tape they recorded and they immediately delivered it to Off The Hip laboratories, where they detected what exactly happened but never detected how… Cavemen, get a copy and try to find yourself how could this happen to four naïve guys with guitars and amps.

This file has been deleted.Reason: No download for a longer period. Inactivity-timeout exceeded."If you want this album post a comment and we will re-upload it"

"Another private pressing, this time one that first saw the light of day on the Owl label in 1975. Despite the somewhat controversial cover,this is an album which is generally regarded as one of the finest heavy acid psych albums of its time. One reviewer described it thus: 'Side 1 opens and closes with extended, awesome moody psychers which will blow you away. Poe, heroin and Jim Morrison all help shape Stephen's outlook,which results in one of the more distinct late autumnal moods [ever] manifested on vinyl.Good vocals, some howling fuzz and occasional use of moog in typical '70s acidhead fashion'.One St Stephen has been issued on CD before (on an unknown Austrian label in the '90s),but that particular version erroneously included 2 tracks by a completely different band (St Steven, from Boston),so this is the first time that this highly-regarded album has appeared in its original form."

Spaced Out was Originally Released in 1991 and Initial Copies of this Album Are Now Highly Prized Collectors Items.It was Originally Released in a Number of Limited Formats. There were Originally 1,000 Copies in a Limited 3D Sleeve.In Addition to this There was also a Limited Run of 1,000 Cds, which also Came in a Limited Edition 3D Fold Out Sleeve.The First 500 Copies of Each Format also Included a Comic, which Had Been Signed by the Entire Band.

Originally released in 1991, Spaced Out saw The Magic Mushroom Band taking on the mantle previously held by Hawkwind.Astralasia kicks things off in a relatively ambient mood with lots of swirling synths and typical sax and flute mayhem from special guestDavid Jackson of Van Der Graaf Generator fame.The title of the track underlines the close association with the off-shoot band of the same nameand the influence they had on the Magic Mushroom Band sound, particularly on the next album.This influence is particularly prominent on the other instrumental pieces on this album.A very mellow approach is taken on Equasian, a gentle acoustic guitar and saxophone piece which is revisited on Aquasian with the sax replaced by a flute.The remaining two instrumental numbers have a more rhythmic feel.Squatter In The House has a more prominent beat and is laden with female moans that even Jane Birkin would have been proud ofAravinda features a more ethnic percussion track and some haunting and atmospheric flute work courtesy of Mr Jackson.

The remainder of the album consists of some very fine songs, which are mostly sung by Garry Moonboot,Kim Oz taking charge of the lead vocals on only one track, Freedom.Tracks like Feel So Fine, It Takes Time and Look Into The Future (which features a great violin riff by Sam Turner) are classic space rock numbers and will be a delight to any follower of the genre.However, top billing must go to the classic Pictures In My Mind which is not only psychedelic, spacey, rocky and foot-tappingly good,but also contains a chorus that sticks in the brain for an eternity. Close to a perfect Magic Mushroom Band song.

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IntroductionThe Magic Mushroom Band were originally formed back in 1982 when, allegedly, guitarist Garry Masters (aka Garry Moonboot) heard Kim Russell (aka Kim Oz) singing in the bath and crawled through the bathroom window to invite the owner of the voice to join his band!Along with the third core member of the group, guitarist Gary Twining (aka Ed 'Eddie' Bones), and a variable collection of other musicians, the group set about gigging and released the first of several limited edition cassettes.It wasn't until 1986 that the debut album, The Politics Of Ecstasy, was released on the group's own Pagan Music label as a limited edition of 500 copies.The follow-up, Bomshankar, released by Aftermath Records in 1987, was more consistent in terms of recording quality and sold well enough for Aftermath to release Eyes Of The Angel in 1989.Two more limited edition, privately pressed albums on Fungus Records followed: Process Of Illumination in 1990 and Spaced Out in 1991.By this time Masters, Russell and Twining had been joined, in what was to be the most consistent line-up, by Wayne Manor (bass), Marc Swordfish (drums and programming) and Sam Turner (violin).Signing with Magick Eye records, the band released a further three albums;Re-Hash (a collection of older material re-recorded utilising more advanced studio equipment) in 1992,RU Spaced Out 2 in 1993 and Magic in 1994 (by which time the group had abbreviated their name to The Mushroom Band).

Since 1994, The Mushroom Band have been on a seemingly permanent hiatus while various members have concentrated on the off-shoot band Astralasia, an ambient / trance / dance act originally formed in 1990. Astralasia are probably most widely known to progressive fans for their remix of Porcupine Tree's Voyage 34 (Phase III) released by Delerium Records as a limited edition EP.

“Fictions” is the ONLY album that the band from Chile EVER recorded!Los Vidrios Quebrados (something like “The Shattered Glasses”)formed in 1965 by making their own instruments and playing at schools while they were in the Católica School of Laws.Odeon offered them a contract and they recorded their first single, “Friend b/w She’ll Never Know I’m Blue”.In 1967, they record the legendary “Fictions” for RCA.

This album is played with their own instruments.They cut, pasted and arranged the frets of their guitars on their own pure intuition.They cut their strings out of steel wire rolls bought at hardware stores.They picked up the songs they wanted to play –Beatles, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds and a lot of Kinks stuff- by going into a club,listening to them on a wurlitzer jukebox, and going back home trying to remember the song.They sung in English “to separate ourselves from the commercial music of that time”, the so-called “Nueva Ola”.They sang about everyday things such as “the lack of liberties,the fights caused just by the lenght of your hair”, trying to be the spokesmen of a generation.They were indeed quite an intelectual band in their references and intentions.Though they had begun doing covers, all the songs in “Fictions”, recorded in a total time of 9 hours, were written by themselves.Their history ended when Héctor Sepúlveda moved to London in 1969.Originally they tried to go all together but the rest could not make it,and Héctor played in the streets for a while and opened once for Family at the Marquee.

After the split of "Poll", Kostas Tournas went on to record a great progressive-psychedelic concept solo album. A major progressive folk-rock opus with no distinction into separate tracks; it's a autobiographic concept album. Tournas wrote and arranged it for a large orchestra -something unbelievable, speaking for Greece, back in the early 70's- and a rock group (RUTH). He provided the vocals and the guitars by himself.

Sundial's/Gary Ramon :"I'd been into production and recording and sound from way back but it started off with Spiral Sky around 1992 (which Anthony was involved with also). Their album was recorded at my studios and was complete but I felt had more potential. They just allowed me to remix it and add or detract stuff, which I did. I figured as a whole LP I thought it made sense and that was the first non Sun Dial Acme album release - and it got some good reviews. I think I played guitar on one or two tracks."

Tracks :01 - Creation, Lord I Saw You Cry02 - There Is An Answer03 - Who's To Blame04 - The Prophet05 - Time Has Passed06 - From This Place07 - Hope To Save08 - Judgement Day

One of many good LPs in the Christian psychrock bag, mellow and reflective which is the way these LPs should sound.An organ-based post-1960s sound with moody vocals and quality song writing, consistent all through. They also had a 45.An official CD re from the band themselves exists. [PL]---Dreamy xian organ psych rock with fuzz and good vocals.The band was originally named Help but changed in deference to the Decca group.Their name is pronounced 'as it is'. [RM]---One of the very best Xian records.This album reveals hidden depths with each listen.The dreamy, laid-back vibe at first hides the abundance of melodic ideas.Excellent vocals, a consistent sound and lyrics that are thoughtful rather than preachy.Often quite dark, but the groove isn’t depressive.The organ/guitar-based sound isn’t exactly original but the overall feel is unique.A must. [AM]---On earth azitis in heaven.Well, now at least you know how to pronounce the name of this 4-man Sacramento band.For a while I was thinking it rhymed with phlebitis.Azitis without question gets the official Ken Scott five-star rating.It also happens to be one of the very few Christian-themed albums that is solidly psychedelic in sound from beginning to end.Every song is a winner here, strong melodies, gentle vocals,moody passages with swirly organ that sound like they were lifted out of the middle of 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'.In fact this whole album is saturated in psychy organ sounds.Add to that fuzz, phasing, reverb, wah-wah, flutes and you've got a virtual time machine to the flower power era.'Creation' starts things off with a dissonant organ crescendo, chanting, and wah-wah guitar.'The Prophet' and 'From This Place' both reach frenzied intense peaks,while 'Hope To Save' brings in piano and acoustic guitar for a melodic ballad.Thematically covers a number of topics such as creation, the fall, judgment day, Revelation.Exceptional cover art of a gold cross emerging from the planet earth. [KS]

This album shows a fantastic mixture of authentic traditional Flamenco,Progressive and Psychedelic Rock by Spanish legend Sabicas and extraordinary electric Jazzrock guitar by Joe Beck with congenial backing band among others Donald Mac Donald on drums, Warren Bernhardt organ and Tony Levin on bass. This is an album for those, who are willing to look over the edges of their progressive and psychedelic horizon.Great guitar playing (lots of electric and acoustic guitars) all over.Unique and hypnotizing!

"In Sabicas, I saw a new form of playing, something new...". Paco de Lucía

He represented a breaking point for the flamenco guitar and he revealed flamenco to the whole world, via America. He was absolutely innovative, and revolutionised guitar playing with his speed and polished execution with a right hand technique that is unmistakeable and unrepeatable. His influence has been unquestionable for the new generations of guitarists, passing through the work of Paco de Lucía and Serranito.

He was born between Sanfermines (Pamplona's world-famous feast) and gypsies, in the city that Hemingway made popular with his pen, and his parents bought him his first guitar when he was four years old, when he was just strong enough to lift it. Two years later, he was already making his debut on a stage. In his beginnings, he was a fanatic follower of Ramón Montoya. Nonetheless, his work accompanying the most important cantaores of the time helped him to conceive a far more personal style of playing.

During the Civil War (1936) he went into exile to South America with Carmen Amaya and, together, they embarked on several tours. Sabicas grew fond of those lands, and settled in New York, where he played concerts as a solo artist. He became open minded, to the point where he made the first attempt at fusion with Joe Beck, Rock encounter (1966). He also struck up an important relationship with jazz masters like Charles Mingus, Ben E. King, Gill Evans, Thelonius Monk and Miles Davis. He even played for President Roosevelt in the White House and was treated as just another artist by the record labels, which distributed his records all over the world.

He did not return to Spain until 1967. Twenty years later, his country of birth gave him a national tribute for the first time, in the Teatro Real in Madrid. Earlier, in 1982, Pamplona had dedicated its feast, the Sanfermines, to him. He recorded with Enrique Morente a year before he died.

01 Enraged02 The Right Combination03 Well Enough Alone04 You Cured Me Of That05 She Changes06 What's Going On07 Just Like Julie08 Another Lonely Room09 1.000 Times A Day10 Everything11 I Never Cried12 Time Just Keeps Going By (Faster)13 Things Will Change Tonight (missing)

The E-Types’ Beatles-fueled harmonies come from rock’n’roll heaven…specializing in a British Invasion sweet pop style, they will sweep you off your feet!

01 Inspector Clouseau in outer limits02 State Of My Mind03 Send A Message04 She's One Of A Kind05 Hopeless Endless Way06 Don't Turn Away01 Lost In Tyme02 No!No!No!No!No!03 It's For You04 My Baby Went Away With The Midnight Train05 The Last November06 In The Past07 We're The Sound Explosion

Vol. 14 in shows the cream of the garage punk crop from Greece, which would fit perfectly on any Pebbles ‘60s punk compilation…great stuff!

01 Green Slime:Voices Green And Purple02 Green Slime:Dirty Money03 Thee Cherylinas:Soulin'04 Thee Cherylinas:Love In Creation05 The Apemen:Gotta Get A Little Love06 The Apemen:Understanding07 The Clique:Reggie08 The Clique:The Quest09 Rudi Protrudi:It Came In The Mail10 Rudi Protrudi:LSD Made A Wreck Of Me11 The Heartbeats:I'm Walking12 The Heartbeats:Good Times13 The Jaybirds:But You Never Do It Baby14 The Jaybirds:Smokestack Lightning15 Strange Flowers:December16 Strange Flowers:Across The River And Through The Trees17 Rudi and The Strange Flowers:Little Olive18 The Others:T-Bone Black19 The Others:I'm Gonna Leave You20 Rudi and The Others:Bad Little Woman

coupling of '60s American electronic pioneer Simeon Coxe (of the Silver Apples) with the Alchemysts, a younger acid-jamming garage punk trio from rural Somerset in England. The Alchemysts usually forge an earthy, feedback-drenched amalgam influenced by the likes of Blue Cheer, the Stooges, and MC5. However, with Simeon and his famous oscillators on board, the band sets the controls for the heart of space rock territory, occupying an orbit similar to that of early-'70s Hawkwind. The most engaging material here seamlessly melds Jon Guard and Mat Love's bedrock rhythm section, Paul Simmons' effects-laden guitar, and Simeon's sci-fi electronics. The Loop-like "Hydrophobic," for instance, is grounded in heavily propulsive drum and bass, laced with weaving guitar patterns, and layered with bubbling and chirping synth. On "Interstellar 1-2-5," throbbing oscillators move into the foreground and Simeon adds Tourette's-style vocal outbursts; but on the standout, "Lost Beat Magazine," he plays a more prominent role, singing/speaking in a vaguely manic fashion over a mesmerizing, motorik groove that evokes Tago Mago-era Can. Although it lasts for five minutes, you can't help feeling it's far too short. The reverse is true of a couple of the album's trippier, epic tracks. At nine and 15 minutes, respectively, the drifting "Magellanic" and the mellow, meandering "Morning Comes" occasionally float off into outer space and lose their way a little. Still, such indulgences are excusable as part and parcel of the genre. Unusual collaborations such as this one often sound attractive in theory and then don't live up to expectations; The Alchemysts & Simeon doesn't disappoint.

"The Cosmic Union is an album that beautifully highlights the ethereal psychedelic oneness of our time here on planet earth. A time that was touched on, albeit briefly, during the hippy era before the majors turned it into a money making venture. On 'The Cosmic Union' Craig Williamson (Lamp of the Universe) plays all the instruments, has written the lyrics and sings the beautiful cosmic vocals. This album will appeal to fans of Donovan, S.T.Mikael & the Incredible String Band as well as the cosmic guitar style of Manuel Gottsching of Ash Ra Tempel. Featuring cosmic peaceful lyrics, sitar, tabla, Guitar, drums, bass, keyboards, synthesizer & Rainstick."

Lamp Of The Universe is a solo project from Datura bassist and vocalist Craig Williamson. What a surprise! For those of you who don't know them, Datura are a heavy Stoner rock band, while Lamp Of The Universe is a gorgeously lulling cosmic trip into a paisley colored psychedelic land of celestial ragas from Williamson's guitars, sitar, synths, and tablas. We're talking track titles like "Lotus Of A Thousand Petals" and "Tantra Asana". Believe me, these describe the music on The Cosmic Union perfectly. Lightly strumming acoustic guitars and sitars drift throughout as the tablas and other percussion keep a simple but effective psychedelic pace. Williamson's vocals are equally light and drifting making for the perfect marriage with his music. Lots of beautifully meandering jams that will open your mind for exploring the alternate realms that you travel with Williamson to. There are aggressive moments too, particularly on "In The Mystic Light" which sounds like a jam off Amon Düül's Yeti album. And love that organ and shimmering guitar on "Freedom In Your Mind". Actually, though this might seem to be a 360 degree flip from Datura, that band really is far more psychedelic than most Stoner bands, and the epic track "Mantra" on Datura's Visions For The Celestial CD is in many ways really a heavier version of what we hear on The Cosmic Union. HIGHLY recommended to fans of deep space flower power psychedelia. Note that Cranium Music has released The Cosmic Union in a numbered run of 500, but are interested in licensing the CD for release outside of New Zealand.

Following a six month conversation in the York Arms public house in York, Astro Lore and Markoff De Dephel decided to form a band to play sixties psychedelia and, after going through a few classic song titles of the period such as "The Oscar Weiner Wagon" and "Voices Green and Purple" they hit upon the name "Suicidal Flowers". After a couple of months of deep thought, Astro and Markoff managed to con a few other musicians into joining them. Chris and Jessica Tinsley came in on vocals, Ralf Rollinson and Chris Howard on guitars whilst Bob Fauldes played violin. This group set off to the Old Dairy studio to make their first recording "Flower Arrangement One" which appeared on the now rare local compilation "Something Weird" (a record that also featured the band performing under various pseudonyms as fake local Death Metal bands!). This first vinyl appearance was swiftly followed by the recording of the bands debut album "The Final Arrangements" the 500 copies of which sold out almost immediately upon it's release in late 1992. Before the release of the album the band thought they had better do some gigs so their debut performance was booked at the bonding warehouse in York in April '91. Unfortunately the gig was a bit of a disaster since Rolf Rollinson rang the afternoon of the gig and said he was stuck in Tenerife and couldn't get back. That was the least of the bands troubles however, since the PA didn't turn up and one had to be put together using various scrounged parts. The gig was such a disaster that Chris Howard decided to leave the band. The next piece of bad luck happened when the "Final Arrangements" came to be repressed in an attempt to satisfy the backlog of orders that had built up. The company who had made the LP went bust leaving the original mix master tapes somewhere in Hungary and the artwork lost forever. A second edition of 500 copies was pieced together from the 16 track tapes and housed in a new sleeve. All copies of this were sold almost immediately and both versions of the album are now highly collectable. All that needed to be sorted now was a new band. After many months of searching Robin Tomalin was eventually found to play Keyboards and Rebecca Fry was taken on as vocalist. However sadly the band were to discover that she was completely mad and had to fire her, shortly before she was sectioned in a local mental Hospital. Helen Gee and Karl Farkas were then taken on as the vocalists but as preparations for the second album "Burn Mother Burn" were under way another slight hiccup occurred when Karl was sent to prison for six months for varying driving offences. Further problems were awakened when Chris Howard damaged his hand and was unable to play guitar again. He was replaced by Martin Hall and the album was eventually finished. The band then signed to Delerium outside York Minster on a very sunny day and everyone lived happily after (hopefully)...

THIS RECORD IS CRAZY RARE AND CONTAINS SOME REAL MENTAL MUSIC. A CROSS BETWEEN PSYCHEDELIC AND MOOG FUNK.CRAZY SOUNDS EFFECTS AND PERCUSSION BACKED BY GUITAR FUNKY DRUMS AND FUZZ GUITAR. 4 EVIL TUNES IN ALL ON THIS MONSTER RECORD. CLUB DJ ACTION TO THE FULL EXTREME.ONE TUNE IS LIKE A FUNKY SOUL TRACK WITH PIERRE HENRY SOUND EFFECTS AND MOOG OVER THE TOP.

Influenced by bands like Pink Floyd (Piper at the Gates of Dawn in particular), King Crimson, early Yardbirds, the Byrds, the Beatles and various blues & psychedelic bands and artists from the '60's, the Moffs, a Sydney band, were around from 1983 to 1989 and they released a whole lot of vinyl on the Citadel label. Their shows were wonderfully laid back - you could easily sit on the floor with your eyes closed and just groove along to their music, or you could take a whole lot of illicit substances and REALLY get into it. They were surreal, atmospheric and groovy; think of jangly guitars, bass guitar octave runs, Farfisa organs and the occasional bells and chimes. The band had several line-up changes, but revolved around the core of singer/guitarist Tom Kazas and bass player David (Smiley) Byrnes. When they started to move away from the bluesier style of music, Nick moved onto No Man's Land (another 80's Sydney band that features a scary-looking singer with masses of hair-sprayed black hair called Dave Slade and current Celibate Rifles bass player, Jim Leone as well as stints with Suicidal Flowers. He was replaced by Mick Duncan who had previously been in No Man's Land.

Tracks :1 Look to find 5:142 A million years past 4:133 I once new 7:114 I'll lure you in 5:175 The meadowsong 12:27

More moves in the band saw Mick being replaced by Damon Giles (who had been in mod-style band, Stupidity)and Alan making way for Smiley's little brother,Andrew Byrnes, on drums. This line-up recorded a 7" single with another groovy Moffs-y picture sleeve. Flowers / By the Breeze Damon left and began to do stints with Suicidal Flowers and the final line-up was formed, which was the most stable and included Tom, Smiley, Andrew and keyboardist Scott Barnes. They released a 7" single (black and white sleeve) In 1987 issued their first LP called Labyrinth. The Moffs played shows for a few more years and eventually stopped playing as a band. In 1994, a compilation CD called "Psychedelicatessen" was released, which included 13 tracks from previously released vinyl and an unreleased track recorded in 1987

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

The Vietnam Veterans were one of the main attractions of the Neo-Psych movement and a major event in the psych scene of the mid 80s (what was rather small, sadly), with every new record. Today it seems they are Lost In Tyme. There are no reissues known by me. Their sound are at first rooting in the 60's Garage sound evolved into a very uniqe mix of Psychedelia through their records.